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President Donald Trump has indicated that he intends to continue authorizing lethal military strikes against alleged drug traffickers abroad without seeking a formal declaration of war from Congress.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: Since September, the United States has carried out nine military strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 32 individuals labeled as“narco-terrorists.” The US government justifies these operations by citing the designation of certain drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), arguing that this classification grants the executive branch authority to target them without prior congressional approval. The Pentagon has defended the strikes as legally and operationally consistent with counterterrorism actions taken against groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS in the Middle East, which similarly proceeded without a formal declaration of war.

What’s going on now: While speaking to reporters at the White House yesterday, President Trump doubled down on his belief that he doesn’t need congressional approval to continue the strikes. “I don’t think we’re necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We’re going to kill them. They’re going to be, like, dead.”

Despite this, Trump noted that his administration would likely inform Congress about future plans, especially if strikes expand to land targets, but repeatedly dismissed the idea of seeking formal authorization. “We may go to the Senate and we may go to the Congress and tell them about it. But I can’t imagine they’d have any problem with it,” he said. Later in the same briefing, he added, “Pete, you go to Congress, you tell them about it. What are they going to say, ‘Gee, we don’t want to stop drugs pouring in?’”

The president’s position has drawn some scrutiny from both Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans. Critics argue that Trump is exceeding his executive authority and undermining the Constitution, which grants Congress the sole power to declare war. Earlier this month, a Senate resolution aimed at halting the strikes failed in a 48-51 vote. The measure was introduced by Democratic Senators Adam Schiff (CA) and Tim Kaine (VA) and received bipartisan support from Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). On the other side, Democratic Senator John Fetterman (PA) crossed party lines to vote against it.